The TNA Impact Breakdown 04.13.06

The TNA Impact Réport — 04.13.06

From Orlando, Fla.

Your hosts are Don West and Mike Tenay

Opening Match, X-Title: Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe.
We’re JIP to Joe booting Daniel’s head into the post, but if you want to see what happened earlier, go to TNAWresting.com. Back in, Daniels is busted open pretty badly. Joe rips at the cut, opening him up further. Daniels fights back, but Joe cuts him off with the Flying Ganmengiri. Joe lays Daniels out with chops in the corner. Joe is just killing him in there. He hits a running forearm in the corner and then improvises with an enzuigiri. The Facewash and running knee puts Daniels down further. He blocks a second attempt, though, and gives Joe a Dragon Screw. Daniels hits a running knee in the corner, but Joe blocks *his* second try. Tit for tat. We come back from commercial to Joe hitting a powerbomb into a Boston Crab into an STF into a Crossface into a Rings of Saturn. Daniels makes the ropes eventually. Daniels avoids a Yakuza Kick and hits a pair of Enzuigiris followed by a Flatliner. A jawbreaker rocks the big guy, and Daniels hits a flying shoulderblock. HURACANRANA! ONE, TWO, TH-NO! Daniels is getting frustrated. Daniels gets the knees up on a senton but runs right into a powerslam. Daniels blocks a Palm Strike this time and counters to the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Joe flails with strikes, but Daniels shrugs them off and hits an STO. BEST MOONSAULT EVER! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Joe tries to choke Daniels out from the top rope, but Daniels hits a Shoryuken and goes up. Joe stops him and counters to the SUPER ISLAND DRIVER (Emerald Frosion) for the win and the title at 16:55 (shown). Sabu’s music hits, startling Joe, but nothing comes from it. ***

Sting promises it is showtime.

Mike Tenay interviews Christian Cage who talks about his wife being stalked by Abyss and James Mitchell.

Non-Title, Street Fight: America’s Most Wanted (w/Gail Kim & Jackie) vs. Team 3D
3D cleans house early, and then Gail Kim and Jackie get into a fight, distracting Team 3D long enough for AMW to jump them from behind. We come back from commercial to D-Von hitting a double clothesline to get out of trouble. Ray gets the hot tag and cleans house. I thought it was a street fight. They brawl out into the crowd and back again. Team 3D set up for the Whazzup Drop, but Harris breaks it up. Harris hits Ray with a flying clothesline and avoids a senton. He smashes a trashcan into Ray’s head, but it only gets two. AMW goes for the Death Sentence, but Ray breaks it up. They hit their doubleteam neckbreaker on Storm, but Petey Williams yanks the ref out before he can count three. The rest of Team Canada joins in and beats Team 3D down, but who should make the save but LSD with the Acid Drop. Listen to that pop for Little Spike. Team 3D recovers and gives one of the TC members the 3D through the table. The match, btw, was thrown out at 11:00. **

In a strange twist, the new ads for “Lucky Number SLevin” recast the film as a thriller, dropping the “Get Shorty”-esque cool gangster feel. It’s like those trailers for “The Shining” on Ebaumsworld.

Recap of Sting coming back and the debut of Scott Steiner in TNA.

In the back, Jeff Jarrett claims he has never backed down from a challenge. Double J’s going to give him showtime…as in “Showtime” Eric Young.

Sting vs. Eric Young (w/Scott D’Amore).
Young stalls to start, and Alex Shelley comes down with his camera. Young slips over Sting’s shoulder and fires away, but Sting no-sells and tosses him over the top. Young seeks solace with Shelley, so Sting pescados out on top of them. Hey, look at grandpa with the hops. He tries a Stinger Splash on Young against the crowd barrier, but Young darts out of the way, sending Sting into the steel. We come back from commercial to find EY choking Sting out against the ropes. D’Amore even gets in a cheapshot. Sting slugs his way back. EY tries a Stinger Splash, but Sting gets out of the way and crotches him. D’Amore and Shelley try to get involved, but Sting makes short work of them and hits EY with the Scorpion Deathdrop for the win at 7:38. You’re a bad, bad, bear. After the match, Sting puts Shelley in the Scorpion Deathlock as a little payback. Jeff Jarrett runs down, but Sting sees him coming and destroys his guitar with the baseball bat. AMW and Scott Steiner attack, but AJ Styles, Rhino and Ron Killings make the save. So I guess we have our teams. The match was your usual squash. *

Final Thoughts: Well, they wanted to pack in more star power, and they certainly did that. They also squeezed in three major plot points — Joe’s title win, LSD’s debut, and Sting naming his teammates. That’s pretty good for an hour’s worth of show. Only three matches this week (which I wouldn’t recommend they do every week) but two of them were over 10 minutes, and were decent for TV. All-in-all, a good start for Thursdays. Don’t be surprised if you see another slight dip in the ratings until people find the show again. I would also be concerned that they’ve gone from airing on Saturdays and Mondays, which is at least one good night to Thursdays and Saturdays.

J.D. Dunn